FHA Refund Alerts!!!

Beware of people (known as "tracers") offering to help
you collect your refund for a fee. You do not need to
hire someone to collect your money. You can obtain your
refund directly from HUD for free. If

you feel that you've been misled or in some way
harmed by a tracer; or

you've been contacted by someone asking you to become
a tracer, who you believe misled or harmed you,

You
should be careful about any literature or solicitations stating
that a change in HUD's, FHA's or the government's policy will prevent
you from receiving your refund and that you should call their office
immediately.

You
should be aware that there are firms that might claim that you must
refinance your loan in order to qualify and/or quote some large
refund available to you if you refinance your loan with their firm.
If you are unsure whether your loan was FHA, you can call HUD on
1-(800) 697-6967 and provide your name and property address,
or you may contact us at sf_premiums@hud.gov.

Please be advised that the Department does not sponsor a Third-Party
Tracer Program. Third-party tracers are independent business enterprises
involved in locating homeowners who may be entitled to a Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) single family mortgage insurance premium
refund or distributive share payment. These firms attempt to match
a homeowner with the government funds owed, as part of a private
relationship that the tracer is trying to establish. It is up to
the third-party tracer to develop their client relationship and
to ensure receipt of their fee. The Department is not a party to
any agreement, financial or otherwise, between third-party tracers
and their clients.

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1986, the Department
makes available to the public a cumulative listing of unpaid Distributive
Shares and Mortgage Insurance Premium refunds for Mutual Mortgage
Insurance mortgages that remain unpaid for a minimum of 2 years. The Department provides the Mortgage Insurance Refund List to the public on the FOIA website, so that the State Listings can be easily downloaded at no cost to the requestor from the FOIA Frequently Requested Materials webpage. The link to access the Mortgage Insurance List Selection Page for the FOIA FHA Refund State Files can be found at:http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/administration/foia/frequentrequestedmaterials/fharefundstate

Since the FOIA listings contain public information, HUD cannot prevent
individuals or organizations from utilizing this data for their
own financial interest. However, the Department neither promotes
the commercial use of these listings nor reimburses third-party
tracers for any losses that they incur in locating claimants. HUD
neither encourages nor discourages the efforts of third-party tracers,
as long as the tracers do not misrepresent themselves or the process
to the public.